Challenges and opportunities for increasing the rates of HPV vaccination

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the association between awareness of human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer, and HPV vaccine and intention to vaccinate preteens and teens against HPV. You can end it here and people can click to see more or the rest.

Background: Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, and results in 14 million new cases each year. Around 50% of new HPV infections occur among persons aged 15-24 years old. Cervical cancer is primarily attributable to HPV, and the yearly cost of cervical cancer screening as well as treatment of HPV-related diseases is around $8 billion. In 2009, around 35,000 HPV-related cancers were reported in the United States. The level of coverage for 3 HPV vaccine doses for females aged 13-15 years was only 30% in 2011. This is far below the 80% target coverage level set by Healthy People 2020. The 2013 National Immunization Survey-Teen found that only 50% of Maryland females aged 13-17 years and only 34.2% of male adolescents reported beginning the HPV vaccine series.

According to the 2013 Maryland Cancer Data, Maryland had the 25th highest cervical cancer mortality rate from 2006-2010. During these years, more black women were diagnosed with cervical cancer than White women, and their rate of cervical cancer incidence has been increasing at a rate of 4.9% more per year than white women. We investigate the relationship between HPV, cervical cancer, and HPV vaccine awareness and intention to vaccinate preteens and teens against HPV.

Methods: Utilizing the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), the Johns Hopkins Center to Reduce Cancer Disparities, in collaboration with its Community Advisory Groups in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County, developed and implemented a survey to assess the knowledge, awareness and behavioral intentions on cervical cancer, HPV and HPV vaccine. The study was approved by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine’s Institutional Review Board and implemented between March 2015 and July 2015 in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County. Four hundred and three individuals recruited through community events completed the assessment. Upon completion of the assessment, participants were given feedback on their responses to address any knowledge gap and educational materials. Binary and multinomial logistic regression were used to determine the association between awareness of HPV, cervical cancer, and HPV vaccine and intention to vaccinate children between the ages of 11 and 18 years against HPV.

Results: The majority of study participants were female (78%), black or African American (87%), have at least one year of college or technical school (55%) and have an annual household income of less $20,000 (38%).

Awareness of the existing of HPV vaccine is significantly associated (OR=2.54, P<0.0007, CI 1.487-4.355) with the intention to vaccinate children against HPV. We also found that individuals who never heard of the HPV vaccine are significantly less likely (OR=0.394, p<0.0007, CI 0.230-0.673) to vaccinate their children against HPV than those who have heard of the vaccine. Furthermore, those who are aware of HPV are significantly more likely to know that HPV can cause cervical cancer (OR=5.25, P<0.0001, CI 3.272-8.454) and to know that HPV is transmitted through sexual contact (OR=3.66, P<0.0001, CI 2.199-6.100) compared to those who never heard of HPV.

Conclusion: Awareness of HPV, cervical cancer, and HPV vaccine are significantly associated the intention to vaccinate children between the ages of 11 and 18 years against HPV. Increasing knowledge of cervical cancer and the importance of HPV vaccination among parents and caretakers of preteens and teens have the potential to increase the rates of HPV vaccination and prevent future cervical cancers. More research is needed to explore other factors that are related to HPV vaccination.